CALL FOR PAPERS
March 14-17, 2016 University of Vienna
Austrian Studies Association (ASA) Conference
Austria – USA
Artistic and Intercultural Dialogue
Hosted and organized by
The Research Platform Elfriede Jelinek: Texts – Kontexts – Reception of the University of Vienna
Download the Call for papers here
The 2016 conference of the Austrian Studies Association (ASA) will
focus on the artistic and intercultural dialogue between the United
States of America and Austria.
Elfriede Jelinek’s oeuvre, which
establishes many connections to the US at various levels, will be a
point of departure for our explorations: Ever since she started
writing, the Austrian Nobelprize winner has taken a critical look at
US-American pop culture phenomena and pop myths; she has repeatedly
shown her literary engagement with the political conditions, the power
structures of the mass media, and the economic crisis in the US. With
regard to Jelinek’s aesthetics, one can also note interconnections and
influences: for example, Jelinek’s translation of Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity Rainbow
has had a major impact on her own intertextual writing style, and in
her essays, plays, and libretti we can discern her familiarity with the
films of David Lynch, Alfred Hitchcock, et al. as well as with the art
of Paul McCarthy or Cindy Sherman. Yet another important dimension is
the reception of Jelinek in the USA—as is manifest in translations,
performances, and scholarly treatments.
Taking the US-links of
Jelinek’s work as a springboard, the conference presentations are to
examine the artistic and intercultural relations between the USA and
Austria, which include all forms of art: literature, theater, film,
visual arts, and music. The time period to be considered for conference
papers spans the 19th to the 21st centuries.
Supplementing the
sessions of scholarly presentations, the conference will offer a rich
artistic/cultural program that highlights the myriad of connections
between Austrian art and the US: on March 14, the actress Petra Morzé
will present Elfriede Jelinek’s text Der Tod und das Mädchen IV (Jackie); on March 15, we will discuss works by the composer Olga Neuwirth (Lost Highway, American Lulu, Moby Dick etc.), and there will be a dialogue between Theodora Bauer and Doron Rabinovici; and on March 16, we will view Ruth Beckermann’s film American Passages and have the opportunity to discuss it with the filmmaker.
The organizing committee would very much welcome abstracts that deal with the works of the above-mentioned artists.
Suggestions
for possible approaches and thematic emphases (pertaining to papers in
the areas of literature, theater, film, visual arts, music and the
process of transmission/mediation):
- What kinds of artistic exploration of the other country (US/Austria) can we observe? What sort of aesthetic interactions can be noted and how can they be analyzed?
- What kinds of “translations” or “transpositions” are there? How are cultural, linguistic, and other aspects transformed into one’s own culture and language?
- What kind of reception have Austrian and US-American artists experienced in the respective countries? What sorts of difficulties have shaped their reception and what opportunities arise from the cultural transfer?
- What can we say about the cultural, educational, and scientific/scholarly exchange between the two countries –and what significance can be attributed to institutions and programs promoting such exchange?
Information regarding the organization and process:
- German as well as English can be used for presentations.
- Abstracts (not longer than 400 words, including the title) and a separate, brief bio (not more than 200 words) must be uploaded as PDF document to the conference website between September 1, 2015 and October 15, 2015. Starting on September 1, our conference website: http://asa2016.univie.ac.at/en/abstract-submission/
- By November 15, 2015 the organizing committee will inform those who submitted abstracts whether their submissions have been accepted.
- Only individual submissions—not proposals for panels—will be considered.
- All presenters have to be members of the Austrian Studies Association. Membership info is available at http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/Journal-of-Austrian-Studies,675612.aspx
- Presenters are responsible for their expenses (travel, accommodation, conference fee).
- The conference fee (Euro 150; for graduate students, Euro 110) covers conference materials and most meals.
Organizing Committee: Pia Janke, Maria-Regina Kecht, Teresa Kovacs
For all general questions, please contact: asa2016@univie.ac.at
